peters



lV. AIKEN AND J. B. AIKEN, OF FRANKLIN, NEWT HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNORS TOHERRICK AIKEN AND JONAS B. AIKEN.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

Specicaton forming part of Letters Patent No. 13,561, dated September11, 1855; Reissued March 13, 1860, No. 926.

T0 all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, lVAL'rnR Arnim and JONAS B. AIKEN, of Franklin, inthe county of Merrimack and State of New Hampshire, have inventedcertain new and useful lmprovements in Knitting-llachines, of which thefollowino' is a full and clear description, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making part of this specification.

Figure 1, is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2, section upon the line Q, Q,of Fig. l. Fig. 8, is a view of the driving plate, inverted, showing thegroove which guides the arms or shanks of the needles and operates them.Fig. 4, is the bed plate upon which the operating parts are placed. Fig.5, is a plan of the needle plate showing the grooves in which theneedles slide. Fig. (5, represents the kind of needle used. Figs. 7, S,and 9, are parts detached from the driving plate, hereafter to bedescribed.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention wewill proceed to describe the method which we have adopted of carrying itout, describing first the general features of the machine and then moreparticularly the nature and details of our improvements.

B, is the bed plate, shown in Fig. 4, and to which the operating partsof the machine are attached. Through the center of this plate there isan opening' down through which passes the finished fabric; as seen at L,Fig. 2. A, is the hollow circular needle plate through which the fabricalso passes. This plate is shown in Figs. 1, and 5, and is also seen insection Fig. 2. It is secured to the bed plate by screws which passthrough the holes 2, of the bed plate, one of which is seen at z',section Fig. 2; or it may be fastened in any other convenient manner. Onthe exterior surface of this plate grooves are cut for the reception ofthe needles. These grooves are longer than the needles, and of asufficient size to hold them steadily and at the same time to allow themto slide freely back and forth. They are of such a vdept-h that theneedles are flush with the surface of the bars u, u, between the needlegrooves. This plate is made conical for the purpose of extending thedistance between the Shanks or arms of the needles further apart thanthe barbed ends. By this device the movement of the needles is greatlyfacilitated while passing through the groove from c, to d2, Fig'. 3, andsection Fig. 2. By this method of construction and arrangement eachneedle performs in succession, first, the oiiice of throwing off the oldloop; second, drawing the yarn through the knit fabric into the mouth ofthe groove, 0, Figs. 1, and 2, the fabric being held back by the edge ofthe plate, a, and the bars u, u, between t-he needle grooves 0. Thisconstruction and arrangement dispenses with both sinkers and sinker,wheel, now in common use, and of using' levers or springs to acceleratethe movement of the needles while drawing the loops. The angle of theexterior surface of this plate is made at 450 or thereabout, which weconsider the most favorable to the fabric and the operation of theneedles. But it may be varied from this angle either way to O or 90.

Upon the needle plate is placed the driving plate C. The interiorsurface of this plate corresponds and rest-s upon the eX- terioi surfaceof the needle plate, A, and thus the needles are retained in theirproper positions in the grooves. The plates A, and C, are seen insection Fig. 2, with the needles cz a between them.

The driving plate C, is constructed and operated in the followingmanner: (Z, is a spiral groove, seen in plan in Fig. 3, and in sect-ionin Fig. 2, in which play the arms or shanks ofthe needles Then the armsare in the highest port-ion of the groove as at c, Figs. 2, and 3, thehooks of the needles are open and ready to receive the yarn, the latchesbeing thrown back by the loops as the needles rise. At this point theloops on the needles fall below the latches previous to drawing a newloop. When the arms of the needles are in the lowest portion as at cl2,the needles are drawn down, the barbs or hooks of the needles beingclosed by the action of the loops passing over the latches. The groovepasses abruptly from the point o, to (Z2, at an angle of abouitio. Butthe angle of either portion of the groove in which the arms of theneedles play may be varied and still the principles of action in formingthe loopsI remain the same. While the needles are traversing thisportion of the groove (from c to Z2,) the loops are formed upon thefabric, as seen at p and cl2, section Fig. 2. At this point is placed adevice for regulating the length of the loops which we denominate theloop regulator. It is seen in place at I, in Figs. 2, and 3, anddetached in Fig. 9. e is a screw rod attached to the regulator I, whichpasses through a slot in plate C, section Fig. 2. It is confined inposition by the nut g. Vhen it is desired to make a longer loop theneedles must descend lower in the groove 0, for that pur pose. This iseffected by depressing the regulator I, and tightening the nut g', andvice versa when a shorter loop is required. The loop regulator is sunkin a cavity in the plate at about the depth of the groove al, its outersurface being flush with the inner surface of the plate. It is made ofhardened steel and of such aV shape as to drive the needles abruptlydown the groove d, at the angle before mentioned. Through the driving'plate C, all the other parts of the machine are actuated. It is set inmotion as follows: E, is the driving shaft, to which is attached thedriving pulley F, and the cog wheel H, by means of the screws m, and Z.This shaft runs in the box G, which is secured to the bed plate by thescrews 7L z. The cog wheel H, engages with the cogs upon the lower edgeof the driving plate which revolves as the driving shaft is turned. Thedriving plate is held in place by the ring D, which rests upon aprojecting flange on the foot of plate Gr. It is secured to the bedplate by the screws which pass through the holes 7a2, one of which isseen in section Fig. 2, at c. The ring D, fits closely upon the flangeof the plate C, but still so as to allow the latter to revolve freely.

When the several parts of the machine are adjusted, in the mannerdescribed it is then ready to insert the needles, which is done in thefollowing manner: By taking out the gate 7c a channel will be opened inthe plate C, through which the needles are passed 4into theirrespect-ive grooves in the needle plate A, or if a needle should becomebroken or impaired it can be taken out and another inserted in likemanner. The arm J, is then attached to the plate C, by the screw s,Figs. 1, and 2. The yarn carrier and latch regulator are combined tothis arm. The yarn is represented in red and passes through the tube n,to the needles and thus as the driving plate is revolved each needle insuccession forms a new loop upon the fabric knit.

The general form and construction of the several parts of our machineare new, but we shall confine our claims to the most essential parts, asthese cannot be materially varied in construction, in the principleswhich govern their action, or, in the nature of the results produced.

Claims:

l. Ve claim the construction of the hollow circular needle plate havinggrooves in its outer surface as described, for the object specified.

2. W e claim the loop regulated as described, for the object specified.

In testimony whereof witness our signatures this fifteenth day of AugustA. D. eighteen hundred and fifty five.

WALTER AIKEN. JONAS B. AIKEN.

Vitnesses DAVID L. ANNAN, JOHN WV. ANNAN.

[FIRST PRINTED 1912.]

